


Wonderful and Horrible

by thesalsagamer396



Series: The man behind the mask [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gabe has gone through a lot, Gen, PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, supportive Sombra, takes place right after the Recall short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 02:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10066865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesalsagamer396/pseuds/thesalsagamer396
Summary: He's only human, after all...





	

**Author's Note:**

> This work now has a Chinese translation! Go to the link below and give the translator your support!
> 
> http://ranclark.lofter.com/post/1d8820c1_ea4b977

I won’t forget the first time I saw Gabe’s real self.

My entire time with Talon has taught me one thing above all else. Reaper is a serious, tactical, plan-eighteen-steps-ahead-for-every-moment-of-life kind of guy. He hates it when someone goes against all of his careful planning. Which I do a lot of the time. He always gets annoyed with me whenever I’m trying to have a little fun with him.

But what Talon has taught me is completely different from the truth.

After a failed “mission” to retrieve the location of old Overwatch agents, I saw what Gabe is really like.

When that stupid ape electrocuted Gabe, I lost contact with him for a few moments. At first, I thought it was because the earpiece was shorted out, but he came back to me. That’s when I heard it.

Scared breathing.

**“Reaper? Reaps? What’s going on there?”**

**_“I’M TELLING YOU I KNOW NOTHING! EVEN IF I DID, I WOULDN’T TELL YOU! JUST STOP! PLEASE, STOP!”_ **

I could just hear the tears forcing their way out from him. I thought back to what I learned about Gabe. Back in his SEP days, he was always electrocuted to put his body through intense stress. In Overwatch, he was electrocuted as a way to endure interrogation. And in Talon, he was electrocuted in order to break him.

**“Gabe! Gabe, listen to me! It’s Sombra! Gabe, come back to me!”**

I didn’t know what to do.

**_“P-Please…No more…”_ **

He sounded so pathetic.

**“Gabe, it’s ok! It’s over! No more shocks, ok? It’s all done.”**

He sounded so scared.

**_“What do you want from me…? What do you want?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”_ **

He sounded so…human.

**“Gabe, I’m coming to get you! Sombra is on her way to find you! Ok? I’m gonna get you out of there! Ok?”**

I had to help him.

**_“No more…No more…”_ **

And when I found him, he looked as bad as he sounded.

He was curled up in a ball of black cloth. His mask was on the ground in front of him, but his face was buried behind his hood which was pulled far up so that it could cover him. Black smoke surrounded him.

And he was crying.

It was very faint, but I could hear his sobs. I ordered my “bodyguards” to give us some space and I crawled up to him, holding that dumb skull mask.

“Gabe…?”

_“No more…No more…No more…No more…”_

“Gabe it’s me. It’s Sombra. I’m here.”

_“…Sombra…?”_

He lifted his head behind the hood. I could see his chin. Some of his skin was rotten grey, but there was a small patch that was that healthy brown. That was the most I’ve ever seen of his face. And there were tears dripping from it. Seems they have been the whole time I was coming.

Whether he felt the same or not, he was one of my genuine friends. I offered him the mask.

“Put this on, Gabe. I know you don’t like it when people see your face. No one else is looking. I promise.”

Rather than grab the mask, he took the hand holding it.

_“…Sombra…”_

“Yeah, Gabe. It’s me.”

_“…I want to die, Sombra…”_

That was the most emotion I’ve ever heard from him. I could clearly hear the fear and sadness and hurt in his voice. It reminded me that Reaps was more than a being. He was a human with feelings.

He’s human. The thought made me smile. I thought it was both wonderful and horrible. Wonderful because this meant he wasn’t some husk of a person like Widow. Horrible because that meant that he was always feeling this way.

The people in his life were far more cruel than I could ever hope to be. All I do is kill people and blackmail others. Gabe has suffered through people that tortured him to the brink of a meltdown.

“I know, Gabe. But for now, let’s get you home. Safe and sound, yeah? Come on, big man.”

He unclasped my hand and took the mask, putting it on and lowering the hood. He took my hand again and I helped him stand up. His arm was shaking.

_“It never stops, Sombra…The tests…They never end…”_

“Keep quiet, Gabe. They are over. You just have some leftover jitters.” I was gonna kill that ape for doing this to my friend.

So what if our relationship is complicated? He’s worth more to me on my side than not. So, I’ll do what it takes to keep him level.

I managed to get him to base with little complaints. By the time we got back, Gabe had come back to his senses fully.

“…This whole thing never happened, ok?”

“Lips are sealed, Gabe. Never happened.”


End file.
